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As
Michael Schiavo made his first public comments since killing his
disabled wife in March, about 60 protestors marched outside the Hyatt
Regency Hotel in Minneapolis, MN., Friday where a bioethics conference
was being held.
Brother
Paul O’Donnell of St. Paul, a Roman Catholic Franciscan monk and
spokesperson for the Schindler family, said about 200 people attended
the conference which was sponsored by the Hennepin County Medical
Center. He said the attendees could see the protestors during the
program due to the exterior glass wall at the hotel and that there was
a heavy police presence.
According
to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Schiavo said told the attendees that
he “never, in my entire life, thought I would be thrown into such
a national debate”. He said all he wanted to do “was carry
out my wife’s wishes”.
The
Tribune said that Schiavo wiped away tears as he said that “Terri
didn’t die an awful death. He said as she died he “laid a
red rose in her hand and said goodbye”.
Schiavo
fought Terri’s parents, Mary and Robert Schindler Sr., in the
courts for over seven years trying to get a court order to end her life
by withdrawing her nutrition and hydration which she received through a
feeding tube. She died on March 31, 13 days after the tube was removed
by her estranged husband.
He said that’s what she would have wanted.
Brother
Paul said that Schiavo received a standing ovation from the group that
had convened to honor Dr. Ronald Cranford, senior physician and
assistant chief of the Department of Neurology before his retirement
after he was diagnosed with liver cancer.
Cranford
was the neurologist chosen by Schiavo and his attorney, George Felos,
as a medical witness in proceedings before Pinellas County probate
court judge George W. Greer. Cranford, also known as “Dr
Death”, testified that there was no hope for recovery for Terri
and that she was in a persistent vegetative state.
Brother
Paul said that he saw Dr. Jay Wolfson in the crowd and spoke with him.
He said he told Wolfson that he still couldn’t believe that Terri
had been murdered and Wolfson replied that he was “still
conflicted about all of this”.
Wolfson,
professor of Public Health and Medicine at the University of Southern
Florida, had been appointed Terri’s guardian ad litem by the
Florida Legislature in October, 2003, to make a report and
recommendations to Gov. Jeb Bush about Terri’s prognosis. He
recommended that she receive additional swallowing tests and should
undergo new examinations by independent medical experts to determine if
there was any chance of recovery. However, Greer refused to allow any
new tests.
In
December, 2003, Wolfson, who spent time observing Terri, wrote a report
for Gov. Bush that noted, "Highly competent, scientifically based
physicians using recognized measures and standards have deduced, within
a high degree of medical certainty, that Theresa is in a persistent
vegetative state. This evidence is compelling”.
Brother Paul said that when he was addressing the crowd, he recognized
Dr. Cranford among the onlookers. He told Cranford that he was there
“not to celebrate what you do but to speak out against it and
I’m not going to go away”. He told Cranford that there are
going to be people “rising up to confront this Culture of
Death”.
There
will be a debate between Brother Paul and Dr. Cranford on Oct. 28
sponsored by the Minnesota Medical Directors Association in
Minneapolis. Details will be forthcoming. June Maxam 9-23-05
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